LONDON: The British government has launched a legal challenge against plans for a European financial transactions tax to be adopted by 11 EU states, finance minister George Osborne said Friday.
Osborne said an application had been lodged at the European Court of Justice against the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT).
While the tax would be adopted by eurozone countries it would affect investors worldwide.
Britain is not adopting the FTT and opponents of the tax fear it would be levied on British firms trading with businesses in participating states, including France and Germany, which they say would domestic growth.
"The UK launched a legal challenge to the European Commission's proposal for a financial transaction tax," Osborne said.
"We're not against financial transaction taxes in principal but we are concerned about the extra-territorial aspects of the Commission's proposal and I think that concern is shared by some other countries."
The FTT imposes a tax of 0.1 percent on a trade in shares and bonds, and of 0.01 percent for derivative instruments.
The European Commission has said that if any of these investments originate in one of the 11 FTT states, they can be taxed wherever they are traded, giving them a global reach.
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